Twin Arrows
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Twin Arrows started in 1950 as Padre Canyon Trading Post. It's about 20 miles east of Flagstaff off Interstate 40 Exit 219 where a $200 million Navajo casino opened in 2013.
William and Jean Troxell bought the trading post from Ted and Jewell Griffith in 1955 and erected the signature twin arrows, according to Blue Miller in her "Never Quite Lost" blog. The couple also operated Jean & Trox House of Photography in Flagstaff. The property on 10 acres of leased state trust land included the Best Little Shop On I-40 and a Valentine Manufacturing Co. diner. It is one of an estimated 2,000 of the 10-seat diners built in Wichita, Kan., and trucked to American towns after World War II, according to the Kansas Historical Society. There are other Valentine diners in Phoenix, Sanders and Winslow. Few are still operating. A diner in Bisbee is open to guests at the Shady Dell Vintage Trailer Court. Another diner was on Route 66 in Flagstaff until 1983 when it was moved to make way for city hall. Interstate 40 bypassed Twin Arrows in 1971. Reports say Twin Arrows Trading Post, owned by the Hopi Tribe, has been closed since 1998. |
The Best Little Stop on I-40 was
adjacent to the graffiti-tagged trading post.
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The Troxell family created a roadside photo op by rigging these telephone poles as giant arrows in 1955.
Arthur Valentine started manufacturing these highway diners in 1947 in Wichita, Kan., and an estimated 2,000 were trucked to sites across the country.
One of the Valentine diners on Route 66 in Winslow in 2003. It's not currently open and was painted beige. (Photo by John Margolies/Library of Congress)